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Elm Street Infirm Shelter

At a glance

  • What: The 20 bed shelter at 200 Elm Street for aged, infirm and vulnerable homeless adults (replacing the 40 bed 39 Beech Street operation), run for the City by a contractor, with services being co-located on site.
  • Where it stands: On September 1 the Board extended the rent contract November 1, 2026 to October 31, 2027 and approved funding transfers, with Kantor and Sapienza opposed. On October 6 a $15,000 opioid abatement grant for on site recovery services passed with Kantor opposed.
  • Next: Winter warming operations report in October; Mental Health Center co-location from December; grant decision from Granite United Way.

Mayor's account (September 1, 2026)

  • Requests: transfer $110,952.72 from charitable gaming (Revo Casino) to shelter operations, $50,000 in opioid abatement funds, and authorize the rent contract for November 1, 2026 through October 31, 2027. (The related resolution is written as $110,592.72; the figures differ in the minutes.)
  • Mayor Ruais said the City has housed more than 140 veterans, including all 47 in the original group; 39 Beech Street and 200 Elm together housed over 100 people; 13 were housed through 200 Elm since March; 19 people have been released from hospitals into the shelter since March 19 and 47 across 39 Beech Street and 200 Elm since the program began, because there is no respite care in the city or state.
  • Winter warming ran 78 nights last winter with about 58 people a night (a 28 percent drop). Chief Cashin is convening winter warming providers, with a report to the Board in October.
  • Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester will be on site full time from December. The City applied to Granite United Way for a 12 month pilot putting Hope for New Hampshire Recovery on site 20 hours a week and Elliott Health System's substance use program. Funding sources are opioid abatement, charitable gaming, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and CDBG, not property taxes, the Mayor said.
  • Hot spot patrols: the $500,000 once funded by ARPA is in the passed budget; since January, 126 arrests and 208 citations in parks.
  • Fajardo said parks look better but drug use has moved into neighborhoods near Central High School and asked about police response times. Mayor Ruais described a "balloon" effect needing enforcement, treatment, mental health and housing together.
  • O'Neil asked about the fire department's Squad One running three days a week; Mayor Ruais said one more shift costs $45,000, included in the abatement package.
  • Kantor: 39 Beech was supposed to be one stop shopping and failed; she wants IDs checked and intoxicated people refused. Mayor Ruais asked what to change and said the matter would go to the Solicitor.
  • Votes (September 1): the rent contract and funding request (item 36) passed with Kantor and Sapienza recorded in opposition. In the Community Improvement reports, those two were also opposed on the $110,592.72 shelter resolution, on the group of four transfers ($120,000 among the Community Health Worker program, Hope Connections and the shelter; $50,000 for 1269 Cafe operations; $45,000 for Squad One; $66,500 for the Community Response Unit), and on the $68,900 ARPA homelessness response item. The $106,395.33 opioid settlement trust item passed without recorded opposition.

August 4, 2026

  • Mayor Ruais said the RFP for the lower floor of 200 Elm is for services the Board approved February 17 (up to $125,000 earmarked; the RFP covered a larger build out at about $400,000 that the City will not do). Rent for the whole building is $132,000 a year versus about $30,000 a month at 39 Beech Street; lower level tenants would pay, about $6,000 a month in total, to make it self sustaining. Mayor Ruais said shelter space was cut from 40 beds to 20 beds, and the shelter is run by a contractor, not the City.
  • Kantor asked about ID checks, warrants and a certified operator; the Mayor said the Board approved a contract with ECEL, which runs the shelter daily, and that a homeless coordinator is now on site. Winter warming was a unanimous Board belief, and the reduction to 20 beds was meant to protect the most aged and infirm. Thomas said partners can connect residents to insurance-paid services.
  • Public comment: Leonardo Rodrik said the shelter had no arrests or overdoses in its first two months and that 47 veterans had been housed.

October 6, 2026

  • Committee on Community Improvement recommended, and the Board approved, $15,000 in opioid abatement money for the "200 Elm St. Opioid and Substance Use Recovery Service Expansion" (see Opioid Abatement Spending). Kantor voted no.

Public comment

  • Micklon: questioned why the City acts as a bank for operators and said accountability should come with public funds (see Families In Transition Loans).
  • Gravel (October 6): criticized what Gravel called a homelessness industrial complex and measures of spending rather than results.
  • Carswell: said Carswell worries about registered offenders among shelter residents and urged enforcement of residency rules.

Sources

Log

2026-10-06 - Board of Mayor and Aldermen

$15,000 opioid abatement grant for on site recovery services approved; Kantor opposed. Public comment critical of homelessness spending.

2026-09-01 - Board of Mayor and Aldermen

Board approved the rent contract and funding transfers; Kantor and Sapienza opposed.

2026-08-04 - Board of Mayor and Aldermen

Mayor Ruais explained the RFP for the lower level and the shelter reduction to 20 beds; CDBG-CV hearing the same evening (see Emergency Shelter CDBG-CV Grant).